Life Cycle of a Private Foundation
During its existence, a private foundation has numerous interactions with the IRS - from filing an application for recognition of tax-exempt status, to filing required annual information returns, to making changes in its mission and purpose. The IRS provides information, explanations, guides, forms, and publications on all of these subjects - they are available through this IRS website. The illustration below provides an easy-to-use way of linking to the documents most foundations will need as they proceed through the phases of their "life cycle."
In addition to the following illustration, you can also download a graphical depiction of the life cycle, which includes functioning links back to our site.
Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 2012-08-02
